Man Finds Mysterious 10-Set Trophy Collection at Goodwill. Then His Search for the Owner Takes a Wild Turn (Exclusive)

Zack Wickham started a now-viral hunt for the owner of a vast trophy collection in Goodwill and told PEOPLE about his find-turned-saga filled with surprises

A treasure hunt, but with a twist.

Rather than looking for the prized possession, Zack Wickham had already found it and was instead looking for its owner upon discovering a trove of trophies sitting atop a random shelf at a Goodwill in Los Angles one afternoon in early October.

The Kentucky native was browsing the aisles when a 10-set trophy collection caught his eye. "All of a sudden I'm like, 'Oh that's weird that there is a trophy with this girl's name', "Wickham recalls in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE of his discovery-turned-viral TikTok saga in search of the holder.

"Phoebe Kong" was the name engraved on the trophy, along with the nine other accolades lined up beside them that Wickham soon noticed before quickly turning to TikTok to document his findings. Meanwhile, his intent on posting was clear.

"This is a message for Phoebe Kong," Wickham begins in the clip. "If you want all of your awards ... I think your mom cleaned out all your trophies and took them to the Goodwill," he says in the TikTok, which has garnered 36 million views to date.

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Wickham was quick to conclude that Kong is "super talented" after rattling off a list of her accomplishments written on each award, which included an "excellence in piano" trophy and varsity tennis and softball plaques.

Still, thoughts swirled in Wickham's head for answers about why Kong's hard-earned, "high-quality" trophies would be up for donation.

"I was like, 'Your mom either got mad at you or you just went to college and she pulled a fast one', " he jokes of his initial thoughts.

Wickham said he received many comments from viewers who guessed Kong's dad "sent the wrong box to Goodwill by accident and there's a box of his T-shirts in the attic," he says with a laugh. "People started making up stories, so then I would add to the story."

In less than 24 hours, the video went viral and the viewers got invested. "Eventually, the storyline took a life of its own. I went to bed that night ... I wake up to a couple million views," recalls Wickham, who is a cast member on Bravo's The Valley buts jokes he's "more known" for the trophy saga now.

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Upon the video's success, Wickham knew what he needed to do: "I'm going back and I'm buying all those trophies." So that's exactly what he did, or at least, intended to do the morning he woke up and saw that his video had exploded.

He documented the trip back to Goodwill only to discover the unimaginable. "They're all gone except for one," he recalls, remembering the "devastation in [his] soul and in [his] face" when looking at the disappointing sight.

So the search took another turn — the new hunt was to uncover who could've purchased the trophies. Wickham's initial guess was a TikToker who saw his viral video and "thought it would be funny" to take them — only to soon find out that "it was Phoebe's mom who beat me by 30 minutes!" he says.

"The people at Goodwill told me that someone came in and was filming but didn't tell me any other details," Wickham explains. Later that day, the real Kong posted on her own TikTok account (which was created solely to respond to the viral video) documenting her mom purchasing the trophies.

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Kong overlayed the video with text that read, "My mom buying my trophies back bc they went viral from goodwill." She captioned the post, "Caught red handed @ZackWickham you’ll have to fight her for them now."

As it turns out, Kong is an accomplished studio artist from Los Angeles who moved to pursue a career in Brooklyn after graduating from Dartmouth College. Wickham ultimately uncovered more of her accomplishments on TikTok, like spearheading a bill in California at age 17.

"Not everybody has these accomplishments so I thought I would just highlight them and put another video up," Wickham says of Part 3 of his series, followed the celebratory Part 5 showcasing a toast in Kong's honor.

The trophy saga came to a close when Kong explained herself why the awards were donated to Goodwill. "Mom reveal! Yeah, I actually made her donate them. I don't know why I did, I just thought it was time," she admits in a TikTok video.

While tagging Wickham, she captioned the post: "A happy ending."

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